Chapter 2 The Trap

Cara

It had been Janice who had dragged me to the bonfire.

She had literally begged me to come; her mother, she had said, would never allow her to accompany the group that was heading to the edge of Raven's Woods for a campfire if she went alone. I knew her mother, Maude, a sweet-natured woman who often looked at her rail-thin daughter with her rainbow-tinted highlights with a mixture of exasperation, worry, and affection.

Maude was the one who would lend a silent shoulder on the days when Mother was weeping helplessly, broken, and defeated by the hateful Brian.

Maude's man had walked out years ago and Janice had never had a father in her life. Which was probably why she threw herself at members of the male species with such desperation, I reasoned cynically.

Maude would sometimes gently beg me to 'Keep an eye out on Jan.' I went along, although deep down, I did not like the crass and spiteful Janice. I knew instinctively that she disliked me. But she hid it to a large extent, sneering at me on the side, but that was all.

My mother was too weary that day to protest; Brian had been particularly obnoxious the previous night, and her face was swollen with weeping from a brutal thrashing he had ladled out.

Reluctantly, I had tagged along.

*

It had been dusk when we arrived at the campsite.

Sounds of girls giggling and boys shouting filled the air. The smoke from the fire was intense, and I wondered warily what would happen if we started a forest fire.

Raven's Wood was a little away from Smokey Valley. it was a small forested town, surrounded by the mountains and the forest, a dense growth of trees that were beautiful to look at in the winter and during the day. But at night, they loomed at the edges, threateningly. I shivered as I walked with Janice. We had taken a bus to the town and then hitched a ride with a friend of Jan's to get here.

Silhouetted against the flickering lights of the fire, I could make out bodies swaying. There were a lot of people. Loud music on speakers that blared, making conversation difficult.

I slowed down as I trotted behind Janice.

Slowly, the truth hit me.

This was not a campfire outing at Raven's Woods organized by the social group of the school we attended, as Janice had led me to believe.

It was a private gathering.

She had squeezed her thin self into a tiny outfit, and despite the cold air, she was pulling off her jacket as she walked. I blushed as I saw her outfit. It was barely capable of hiding her tiny breasts.

I was doubly conscious of myself in my blue top and jeans. The top was one that I considered to be daring, but in comparison with Jan's clothes, or rather, lack of them, I looked like a nun in a habit!

And even worse, as I was to find out when I heard his voice, it was a gathering organized by ...yes, who else?

My heart began to pound, and a headache began at my temples.

Warren Johnson.

I turned to Janice, my eyes wide in panic, tugging her arm as I hissed in horror.

"Jan! It's a party by Warren?'

She shook my hand off sulkily and took a step back, tugging at the straps of her dress, lowering the neck of her outfit to reveal her non-existent breasts.

The expression on her face surprised me.

It was something between derision and hate. And a kind of exultation. Like the expression of a sadist who has sighted a cornered animal and is preparing to torture it.

"Yeah, so what?' she said rudely, and my face paled.

'I mean, you are a real bitch most times, with your nose in your books and thinking yourself to be better than the likes of us other girls.'

Taking a step backwards, I stared at her, open-mouthed, my heart thudding as I grasped the fact.

I had been set up by the only girl I had trusted at school!

Her small eyes narrowed spitefully as she went on, a sly look on her face as she came closer and said, bringing her face close to mine, and hissed in triumph.

"You know something? When I told Warren that you were a virgin, he got all excited.'

She giggled, an ugly, jarring sound. I could feel the tears pricking at the backs of my eyes, but I would never cry before this hateful girl.

Jan was older than me She was one of those kids who had lost her virginity when she was young, eager to be accepted, and had traded the only thing she had, that was her body.

And she had made her contempt evident on many occasions.

I was a prude for not having slept with a boy before the ripe old age of seventeen!

She went on, eager to spill her poison.

" Yeah. Him and the other boys too.'

My eyes widened.

"You don't need to look so shocked, Miss High and Mighty," she sneered.

"Maybe you might just enjoy it.'

Again, that ugly giggle.

And with a final parting shot, she snickered,

" I wish I could see you when those guys are doing a twosome on you! '

Again that hateful snigger as she went on,

"Or maybe, a threesome, how 'bout that, Miss F*cking Virgin?'

*

With a raucous laugh, she danced away, throwing me a look over her shoulder that left me in no doubt.

Suddenly, I was all alone in a crowded place.

I wanted to cry, I wanted to slap her...

But she had disappeared in the crowd, and I was stranded.

My knapsack landed on the ground with a thump, but I was barely aware of it. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I looked around for a friendly face-any familiar face. But there was no one. All the girls were the ones in the skimpiest of clothes, the ones who hung around the boys for attention.

Almost sobbing with terror, I turned around frantically.

And I met Warren Johnson's eyes. Gloating in triumph.

When I saw the smirk on the repulsive Warren's face, I guessed the truth. With a sinking heart, I realized that Janice had probably been asked to make sure that I came along. She had whined and wailed, and I had fallen for it-more fool I!

I now knew that I had been lured here.

Too furious to stay longer, I turned to try to leave, only to realize that the ride we had come with had blended into the throng of gyrating bodies, dancing wildly. Just everyone seemed to be high on drugs, and I began to panic.

What had I been thinking of?

An entire evening with these doped kids? Sorry, I wasn't interested.